1. SHAKARIM STATE UNIVERSITY OF SEMEY
Lecture 16 Biodiversity
Sapakhova Zagipa, PhD, associated professor

3. Which do you like better?A

4. Which do you like better?A

5. Which do you like better?A B

6. Which do you like better?A B

7. Which do you like better?A

8. Which do you like better?A B

9. Which do you like better?A B

10. What do you think biodiversity means?

11. Biodiversity
What does “Bio” mean?
Life
Bio =

12. Biodiversity
What does “Diversity” mean?
Diversity = Variety

13. “The variety of life in all its forms, levels and combinations”
Includes:
ecosystem diversity, species diversity, and genetic diversity

14. Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth and the essential interdependence of all living things
Scientists have identified more than 1.4 million species. Tens of millions -- remain unknown (
The tremendous variety of life on Earth is made possible by complex interactions among all living things including micro-oganisms.

15. Quiz:
Mammals
Birds
Fish
Insects
Flowering Plants
Total # of species recorded
Estimated Total # of species in the World
4,675
9,702
23,250
751,000
421,968
1,413,000
~ million species

16. There are 3 components of biodiversity
Diversity of genes Chihuahuas, beagles, and rottweilers are all the same species —but they're not the same because there is variety in their genes.
Beagle
Chihuahua
Rottweilers

17. There are 3 components of biodiversity
2. Diversity of number of species For example, monkeys, dragonflies, and meadow beauties are all different species.
Saki Monkey
Golden Skimmer
Meadow Beauty

18. There are 3 components of biodiversity
3. Variety of ecosystems
Lakes, Ponds, and Rivers are all Freshwater Ecosystems.
Rocky coast, Sand Dune, Estuary, Salt Marsh , Coral Reef are all Marine Ecosystems.
So what’s an ECOSYSTEM???

19. ECOSYSTEM DEFINITION
“ A self-contained community of microorganisms, animals and plants, that interact with each other and with their physical environment.”
eg a rock pool

21. Within an ecosystem there can be many HABITATS
This is the physical and chemical description of where a creature lives...

22. HABITATS might describe:
The NAME of the place where the creature lives.
eg Arctic Canada is the habitat of the polar bear Ursa maritima.

23. HABITATS might describe:
The DOMINANT VEGETATION of the place where the creature lives.
eg Heather moorland is the habitat of the grouse.

24. HABITATS might describe:
The TYPE of place where the creature lives.
eg species of fish like Pike (Esox lucius) are found in freshwater lakes and ponds.
So what’s a SPECIES??

25. A species is difficult to define exactly!!

26. 1. A group of morphologically similar creatures which can:
Interbreed to produce fertile offspring
Are ‘reproductively isolated’.
Problems with this definition include…

27. Extinct creatures eg T. rex
Creatures who breed asexually eg bacteria
Creatures who can’t be tested ethically eg Man x Chimp

28. 2. Creatures who are related through PHYLOGENY
Similar DNA
Similar proteins eg in blood
Similar biochemistry
Similar embryology

29. DNA profiles of Primates
Gibbon Orang Utan Gorilla Chimp Man
% DNA similar
100 99 98 97 96 95 94 93
Humans share 98-99% of their DNA with Chimps. They are our closest living relatives.

31. Why is a list of species not ‘Biodiversity’?

32. Which is more diverse? B A

33. Which is more diverse? B A

34. Which is more diverse? A B

35. Which is more diverse? A B

36. Which has more cultural diversity?B A

37. Which has more biodiversity?

38. Which has more biodiversity?

39. Biodiversity has Intrinsic Value
Intrinsic Value = Something that has value
in and of itself

40. Biodiversity also has Utilitarian Value
Utilitarian Value = the value something has as a means to another’s end.
Utilitarian values include:
Goods eg sustainable timber
Services eg eco-tourism
Information eg National Park Wardens

41. What do we get from biodiversity?
Oxygen
Food
Clean Water
Medicine
Aesthetics
Ideas

42. Should we be concerned about biodiversity?
What we know: The Earth is losing species at an alarming rate
Some scientists estimate that as many as 3 species per hour are going extinct and 20,000 extinctions occur each year.
when species of plants and animals go extinct, many other species are affected.

44. Threats to biodiversity
Habitat destruction
Pollution
Species Introductions
Global Climate Change
Exploitation

46. BIODIVERSITY

47. GOALS OF CONVENTION ON BIODIVERSITY
“The conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable
use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing
of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic
resources”
“Biodiversity is a common concern of humankind and
an integral part of the development process”
> 100,000 plant/animal species lost in last 5 years
Habitat loss is biggest current threat to biodiversity
Deforestation and forest degradation has increased
since the Rio Earth Summit

48. BIODIVERSITY How many species are there?
million named species (70% of which are invertebrates)
-- estimated 3 to 50 million species alive!

50. WHAT THREATENS BIODIVERSITY?
Background extinction (95% of all extinctions)
Mass extinction

51. BIODIVERSITY Background rates 1 mammal species every 400 years
1 bird species/200 yrs
Now…………...
10,000 times the
background rate!
20-75 plant/animal
species each day?

52. ENDANGERED VS THREATENED
Threatened: population low but extinction less imminent
Endangered: nos so low that extinction imminent

53. THE GREATEST THREAT

55. HABITAT FRAGMENTATION

57. SYSTEM REGULATORS 1000 75% water recycled by ET Effective runoff (mm)
Ground cover removal (%)
25% water
lost in runoff

58. RATES OF DEFORESTATION:
0.9%/year
53,000 sq. mi./year
21,000 sq. mi. in
South America (Amz)
= area of NC
By 1988, +/- 10% of
the Amazon had been
cut down
Due to isolation of
fragments and in
forest/clearing
boundaries = 16%
affected by deforestation

64. CAUSES Swidden agriculture (slash-and-burn) > 60% of deforestation
> Rapid decline in soil productivity (nutrient storage?)
> Can be sustainable
-- ( year rotation)
> Inequitable land ownership (e.g., Brazil where only 5% of
farmers own land)

65. CAUSES Commercial logging 21% of deforestation
creaming of the most valuable hardwoods
1-2 trees per hectare taken (widespread damage)
clearcut versus selective

66. CAUSES Cattle ranching 12% of deforestation
frequently aided by government subsidies
2 trees destroyed for each hamburger made from
“tropical forest beef”

67. WHY DEFORESTATION?

68. WHY DEFORESTATION? Complex
Many underlying social problems giving impetus to deforestation:
> over-consumption in industrialized countries
> foreign debt
> poverty
> unequal ownership of land
> overpopulation
Deforestation

69. WHAT CAN BE DONE?
1. The need to preserve intact sections of tropical forest
> The question of “edge communities”

70. WHAT CAN BE DONE?
2. The need to address the economic needs of the lesser
developed nations in which all of the tropical
forests reside
> Are the ideas of commercial development and maintaining
the health of the environment mutually exclusive?

71. WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Broad-scale commercial and conservation strategies need to be
developed but these must take into account the economic and
environmental constraints of the particular country (i.e., detailed
local knowledge!)
There must be designated core and buffer conservation zones
centered around areas of particular endemism (other areas can
be designated for limited sustainable commercial activities
(polycyclic logging, selective extraction of forest products etc.)

72. Thank you for your attention!